The invention relates to coupling apparatus for use in a fluid handling system. More specifically, the invention provides an improved coupling for use between a fluid dispenser such as a soap dispenser or the like and a reservoir holding a quantity of the dispensed fluid.
Washing facilities in large restroom installations, such as those found in commercial and public buildings, often include built-in fluid dispensers for dispensing liquid soap to the patrons of the establishment. One common type of dispenser includes a hand-operated pump in which soap is dispensed through a spout when the user presses downward on a piston cap or a similar member disposed at the top of the dispenser. A dispenser of this general type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,197 ("the '197 patent"). This type of dispenser is most commonly built into or located adjacent the sinks or washbasins of the restroom facility.
Soap dispensers of this type typically draw soap from a reservoir located in close proximity to, often directly beneath, the pump and dispenser spout. It is desirable in a dispenser of this type that the spout be rotatable about a vertical axis extending generally through the center-line of the pump. Rotatability of the spout is desirable both for the convenience of the user, and because it allows for simpler and more convenient assembly and installation of the dispenser. This latter feature is more fully described in the '197 patent.
Rotatability of the dispensing spout has heretofore required that the reservoir from which soap is drawn be situated along the rotational axis of the dispenser so that regardless the spout's position an inlet of the pump remains in constant fluid communication with the reservoir. This configuration is illustrated in FIG. 1 (adapted from FIG. 1 of the '197 patent), where the reservoir is depicted directly below the dispenser and centered along the rotational axis of the spout assembly.
It may frequently be desirable to locate the fluid reservoir off the rotational access of the spout. In some cases it may be desirable to locate the reservoir a fair distance from the pump, or even to use a single, common reservoir to provide fluid to several pumps at different washbasins. In such a case, flexible tubing may be used to connect an outlet of the fluid reservoir to an inlet at the bottom of the pump assembly. This presents a difficulty, however, in that rotation of the spout causes a corresponding rotation of the inlet at the bottom of the pump. This rotation can lead to kinking in the tubing that connects the reservoir to the pump, and a concomitant restriction or prevention of fluid flow from the reservoir. In an extreme case, the tubing may pull free of the pump inlet, resulting in spillage and loss of fluid from the apparatus. It would thus be desirable to provide a coupling apparatus for providing fluid communication between a remote reservoir and a fluid pump of the type having a rotatable spout, in which the spout could freely rotate without any potential for restriction or loss of fluid communication between the pump assembly and the reservoir.